Poetry is what gets lost in translation-Robert Frost

February 04, 2018

Kiju Yoshida Love + Anarchism: Eros + Massacre

Arrow has recently released Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism, a seven disk set that brings together three works from the late sixties and early seventies, a loose trilogy united by their radical politics and an even more radical shooting style. Eros + Massacre (1969), presented here in both its 169-minute theatrical version and the full-length 220-minute director's cut, tells the parallel stories of early 20th-century anarchist (and free love advocate) Sakae Osugi (Toshiyuki Hosokawa) and a pair of student activists-one of which is his feminist lover Noe's granddaughter Mako. Their stories interact and intertwine, resulting in a complex, rewarding work that is considered Yoshida's masterpiece. Mariko Okada plays both Noe-and at one point in meta fashion the modern day student activist Eiko (Toshiko Ii) interviews Noe in modern Shinjuku-Taisho era scenes often appear in the modern context throughout this films-such as when the military police kick around a bag of Osugi's bones on a modern rugby field. There are elements old and new in the film that can be seen of classical framing in the old style houses of the Taisho era story as well as New Wave elements within the film-for example the collapsing sliding doors during the knife attack of Osugi by his lover in the film. Yoshida is introducing elements that were found to be subversive the Taisho era, such as free love and anarchist sentiments, into the modern era where there was significant rebellion against the status quo as well. The extras include introductions to both versions of the film by critic David Desser, scene-select commentaries Desser, Yoshida ...or: The Explosion of the Story a 30-minute documentary on Eros + Massacre with contributions from Yoshida and film critics Mathieu Capel and Jean Douchet, and an illustrated 80-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the films by David Desser, Isolde Standish (author of Politics, Porn and Protest: Japanese Avant-Garde Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s) and Dick Stegewerns (author of Kiju Yoshida: 50 Years of Avant-Garde Filmmaking in Post-War Japan). It is an impressive collection that gives a great foundation to understanding the work of Yoshida and the Japanese New Wave in general. Yoshia and his film have been a missing link in my own understanding of the Japanese New Wave movement and he stands shoulder to shoulder with the two main giants of the movement Shohei Imamura and Nagisa Oshima.